BABER, ba'ber (or oThe Tiger”, the his torical surname of Zehir-ed-din-Mohammed, the conqueror of Hindustan and founder of the so-called Mogul dynasty: b. 14 Feb. 1483; d. 26 Dec. 1530. Baber was of mixed Turkish and Mongol origin, but in feeling as in personal characteristics he was a Tartar (Turk), and often in his memoirs speaks most contemptu ously of Mongols or Moguls. Yet Hindu ig norance has designated the throne which he established in India as that of the Great Mogul. At the age of 12, on his father's death, he as cended the insecure throne of Ferghana in Turkestan; soon after he was attacked on all sides by his uncles and other neighboring princes, which obliged him, in his turn, to as sume the aggressive. Accordingly, at the age of 15, Baber seized on Samarcand, the capital of Timour, but, while thus engaged, a revolu tion at home deprived him of his sovereignty. After many years of an adventurous and romantic career, he raised an army, entered Hindustan, and was met by Ibrahim, the ruling Sultan of that country. The two armies fought
the battle of Paniput, which decided the fate of India, on 21 April 1526. Baber, with his army of 12,000 men, completely overthrew that of Ibrahim, numbering 100,000, and entered Delhi in triumph. Difficulties and fresh foes had still to be encountered and mastered but in the battle of Sakri, in February 1527, Baber utterly defeated the opposing Hindu princes, and then proclaimed himself Padishah, or Emperor of Hindustan. Brilliant as a military leader, he was also an enlightened ruler, in troduced important reforms in his dominions and had a taste for science and art. Consult his own 'Memoirs' translated by Leyden and Erskine (London 1844), and 'Lives' by Calde cott (London 1844) and Lane-Poole (London 1899).